Cats

November 19, 2010

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Launching a Campaign Against the Legion of Cats

One of the unforeseen negatives we inherited with the new house is a Legion of Cats who have taken up residence in the yard. They’re not strays, just neighbourhood cats that have decided that since no one else was using it, the’d make the yard their playground. And so they’ve made themselves very comfortable back there: basking in the sun, scratching in the dirt, and pooing all over the place.

Hey, I love cats. I have a 16 year old furry baby of my own. What I do not love is cat poo co-mingling with my food. It’s not just gross, it’s also unsafe.

You know who else loves our yard: squirrels. I like squirrels. I really do. That one squirrel we had on the roof garden was bad enough. So far I’ve counted 4 different squirrels visiting the backyard. It’s like there is one cat for every squirrel. Aren’t cats and squirrels supposed to be mortal enemies? Shouldn’t we have one or the other ravaging the yard, not both, and surely not both AT THE SAME TIME? It’s like the cover of a Watchtower pamphlet back there. Predator and prey cavorting together in a Utopian land. This is not right.

So I’ve taken it upon myself to launch a campaign against the Legion of Cats and their squirrel familiars. Step one is to give the unmistakable impression that there is a new creature in the yard who does not abide by their antics. I run out there several times a day, arms flailing and my voice raised. So far they get skittish when they see me in the window and they run when the back door opens. Unfortunately, they always come back. I can’t say yet whether or not the strategy is working but I’m keeping at it and have until spring to establish some kind of boundary. The problem is, we are die hard cat lovers and I think they are starting to see through my ruse.

I’ve dealt with cats (and squirrels) a few times over the years, but every cat is different. What works for one doesn’t always work for others. I know how to keep them out of particular spots, but what I’d like to achieve ultimately is to get them out of the garden entirely.

I’d send my cat out there to establish dominance but she’s having none of it. She thinks she’s a human and finds these new creatures fascinating and very intimidating.

Other Options:

Super Soaker: I don’t want to hurt the cats. I just want them to think of our yard as inhospitable. Most cats hate water.
Water Scarecrow: Like the super soaker, but there when I’m not.Meighan had success with this one. The only negative is that there will be plants in the garden that I’d rather didn’t get sprayed. I also wonder about having the hose hooked up to it all day long.
Coyote Urine: The trouble here is that I also have a cat and would like her to have the chance to enjoy the backyard. If it scares off other animals, it will surely scare her, too.

Have you had any successes keeping cats and squirrels out of your garden?

Grazings

This post (I kind of hate that word to describe writing here) is going to be piecemeal, a quality that is indicative of my life right now as I float or rather scramble from one task to another in an attempt to keep up with the season and my workload. I’ve been trying to write something cohesive here for over a week now. “Just focus and write on one topic,” I say. And then I am up and off to do that thing that must be done immediately or taking reminder notes for future tasks that are later lost. I’m a multi-tasker by nature. I thrive when there are lots of physical and creative tasks to challenge me. It just makes writing in this space a bit tricky. The two don’t really go hand-in-hand. Things are probably going to be spotty here in the coming months as I try to negotiate these contradictions.

The other challenge to choosing a topic comes in the form of the many things I am not allowed to write about. The many assorted secretive magazine assignments, projects, things that rhyme with “look”, etc I am supposed to keep under wraps. Unfortunately, it seems that everything in the gardens is related to these secret projects this year. Tell me I can’t speak about or write about something and you can bet it will be the single focus of my thoughts. There is nothing else to discuss but that single thing or assortment of things. Nothing. And since I am not allowed to write or speak about the things I am most enjoying right now, I am left at a loss for words.

So… ummm… in the category of Things I Can Talk About….

I made some stuff this weekend. A film maker was coming by on Sunday night to shoot the roof garden for a short film she is making and so I naturally thought, “Gee, I have nothing better to do, what with the fifty million things on my to-do list so why not make a skirt for the occasion!” I am often most inspired when time is limited. The skirt is a reworking of an old skirt that was so long and bulky it looked like wardrobe for “Big Love.” It had a useless and heavy piece that wrapped around the front like a faux wrap, making the skirt weigh a ton and not suitable for summer gear. So I took it apart, chopped it down, resized it, and put it together as a slightly a-line skirt. I then drew the little seedling illustrations onto potato halves and printed with fabric paint. I was a bit distracted, applying the first print askew so that the “seedlings” look more like Ginkgo leaves, but whatever. It works. The end.

I wanted to make good use of the potato stamps while they were still viable so I sewed up a new runner for our small table. It is dark chocolate brown (everything in brown!) with a light linen strip that I printed in green. I would take a picture to show you but the light isn’t right in the kitchen and I hate using a flash. And if I get up to do one more thing this post will never be done. I also sewed up coasters for the living room (did not use the stamp), a little catnip pillow for the cat (She actually rests her head on it!) and hemmed a curtain hung with a raw edge over a year ago. Getting shit done! And adding new tasks to the list. Woo!

Plantings

In the category of actual gardening… where do I begin? The community garden is pretty much planted. As far as this stage goes anyways. I have a few secondary things that I want to get in soon and there are a few seedlings currently residing in the roof’s “waiting area” that I REALLY want to squeeze in somehow. But how? I’ve cultivated quite a knack for making something out of nothing but there are two things I can’t make for the life of me: Making money grow on trees and making more space. The space is maxed out and can’t be maxed any further.

The plant I especially can’t let go of is the ‘Haley’s Purple Comet’ tomato. The seeds arrived a little late so this seedling had a late start falling behind the other seedlings that were planted out long ago. I tried this variety at a tomato tasting party last year and HAD to have it. It produces the most delicious, small, dark purple fruit. Back in the 80′s when Halley’s Comet was coming around for its once in a lifetime world tour I got a cheap telescope for The Holidays and hoped with nerd-like enthusiasm to catch a glimpse of the comet despite the fact that it wasn’t really visible from our side of the earth. I never did see it but I did spend a few nights looking at the stars and the moon or gazing up from the top bunk of my bunk beds at the poster of the moon that came with the telescope that I had affixed to the ceiling with tacks. Sometimes those tacks fell on me in my sleep, that’s how dedicated I was to astronomy.

If I could allow my skin to be pierced in my sleep by falling tacks then damn it, I can find a spot for this tomato! The comet has a special place in my heart so how can I resist a dark tomato named after it? I have GOT to find a space for this plant but there is nothing that can give. There are no plants to be removed. There is no more space!! My last ditch attempt will be to get another container… to put where, I don’t know. It’s a horrible dilemma.

Cat Scat

Last week, on an impromptu late evening visit to the garden I laid down some fresh compost in an area I was set to plant later in the week. When I went back a few days later the local cat, whom we call Crazy, had used that spot for a litter box. Delightful! It wouldn’t be enough to simply remove the poo because once a cat has claimed that spot they like to go back to it again and again. And based on the evidence it was clear that Crazy REALLY liked that spot. Luckily this was just a casual visit. I hadn’t arrived with an arm full of seedlings to plant. Instead, a friend and I had stopped at the garden to sit under the trees with our coffees on the way back from the market. I had a couple of oranges in my sack so I peeled them and scattered the peels all over the area. It worked! When I arrived back a few days later the area was untouched.

The Roof

I’ve entered the home stretch! I’ve planted the bulk of it and cleaned up the mess. I was actually able to lay down our twig table runner and candles last night which marks the first time anyone has been able to use the seating area for its intended purpose since I started hardening off seedlings well over a month ago. We’ve been eating lots of salads and the peas are coming in strong. We’re just days away from the first ripe strawberry. I’m most impressed by my potato plants. They are already getting close to the top of the garbage can they are growing in. The Nicotiana alata flowered for the first time a few days ago and I’ve got peppers forming earlier than ever. Everything looks so lush and smells wonderful. I can’t help brushing my hands over the various smellerific plants every time I walk past them. who needs store-bought perfume when you have a garden?

Keeping Kitty Off the Goods

My 12 year old cat Voltron is a determined plant nibbler – in fact most cats have a natural curiosity about their surroundings and tend to enjoy a little taste of fresh greenery now and again.

Unfortunately many common houseplants are toxic so it is worth familiarizing yourself with both your plants and your cat’s tenacity. Many houseplants can cause some form of digestive upset or nausea, and some such as dieffenbachia (aka dumb cane) and philodendron can even be fatal. I’ve included a short list of dangerous common houseplants to avoid [see below and sidebar for further resources]. A little bit of plant material, even the inert stuff can make kitty throw up a little. However, symptoms such as excess vomiting, diarrhea, and a lack of appetite can suggest poisoning and should be taken seriously.

Before rushing to throw much-loved houseplants into the compost heap, try out a few tricks that have worked to create harmony among the species in my own household. Keep in mind that every cat is different and some are just a whole lot more persistent than others! Consider:

Cat Repellents

Make a cat-curbing spray using a “tea” of seeped cayenne pepper flakes and spray on your plants’ leaves or soil surface. NEVER spray your cat directly with this kind of tea. Cats hate strong smells especially citrus. Place citrus peels on the soil surface.

Plant Placement

Some cats are agile climbers and won’t be deterred by high bookshelves or furniture obstacles. Use hanging baskets to keep enticing grass-like plants such as spider plants out of reach. In addition placing plants grown just for kitty in accessible spots will train him to distinguish between his plants and your plants.

Plants for Kitty

Rather than going to war, grow a plant or two that kitty can safely chomp. “Cat grasses” such as wheat, rye, and oats are easy to grow in a shallow container. Alternatively try grasses with a bit of flash such as blue fescue or lemongrass. If neither you nor kitty jive with grasses try herbs such as valerian, catnip, lesser calamint, or Persian catnip. Don’t forget that chemical pesticides and fertilizers can be toxic too – grow organic!

Toxic Houseplants

Dracaena
Corn Plant
Easter & Tiger Lily
Dieffenbachia (aka Dumb Cane)
Ivy
Philodendron
Forced Bulbs – Daffodil, tulip, amaryllis
Caladium

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May 22, 2001

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Catnip Test-off

Guest post by Claire Pfeiffer

Cats are so lucky.

It takes just a sniff of catnip to get them feeling wonderful, whereas we humans must rely on more invasive and costly contraband materials to receive the same effects. And catnip is so cheap; if I gave my cats an allowance, they’d become total dope addicts. My mom had some catnip planted in her garden last summer, and she made lots of feline friends–the catnip patch became a communal meeting place for all the cats in the know, like a kitty café. A garden just isn’t quite complete without a few kitties romping in it.

The effects of catnip are so pleasing to cats, and also to their people, who get to watch the hilarious action of their cats rolling around blissfully. In our Lab this month, I took two unwitting guinea pigs, or rather, cats, as test subjects in an experiment on the effects of catnip on cats. My hypothesis was that differing grades or consumer varieties of catnip have dissimilar effects on kitties, as extrapolated from knowledge of other types of drugs and their variance. Though the variables in this test were wildly uncontrollable, and proved only to get increasingly uncontrollable as the test proceeded, I believe to have proved my hypothesis correct, and submit to you my results, in the hope that my research will contribute to you finding more ease and wisdom in purchasing or growing catnip.

Our cats, Maddy and Opale, were the test subjects. Forthwith is my scientific log of events.

Day One:

Opale munchs on premium herb.

I started off by testing some catnip pronounced Primo by experts. I scored it at an “herboriste”, where they sell all sorts of arcane herbage grown in pristine organic conditions in spiral formations reminiscent of alien landing sites. My cats weren’t visited by visions of little green men (observed: they didn’t act freaked out, and they didn’t say specifically that they saw these ubiquitous little dudes. Obviously this points to one of the main problems with conducting experiments on cats, namely that they can’t speak human, but since I have a strong relationship with each of our cats, I believe I can tell what they’re thinking, and also vice-versa, which creeps me out, really.

But I am not discounting the fact that they could’ve been protecting something, as some people have proposed that cats are actually from outer space. But I digress. In fact, I think that instead of whirling out into the galaxy, this trip for them was pretty grounding. They were really “in” their bodies, and didn’t give a shit that they looked like total goofs as they rolled all crazy on the floor, getting pieces of paper stuck on them and so on. They were a lot like the peaced-out hippie ladies I bought the stuff from. The coming-down was totally settling, and now they are both quietly doing their own thing.

Day Two:

Maddy gets wacky on the floor with catnip.

First of all, I was very surprised that the Cosmic Cat-Snacks I bought were meant to be eaten at all, considering that kitties only gotta smell the weed to feel alright. After trying these on one cat, (the other one turned up her nose to these liver-flavoured nuggets) I was disappointed that she didn’t react like the cartoon cats on the package, who looked crazed and ecstatic. Mind you, the illustrations were of orange cats, which are usually of a more maniacal nature than mild-mannered grey ones. Indeed, Opale did cavort with a bit more frisk, but I can’t even be sure that she wasn’t just acting as usual. I even tried giving her a double dose just to see if she’d go nutty, but without results. (There are no reported negative side effects of catnip on cats.) Meanwhile, Maddy is still catching a buzz offa the minute amount of organic homegrown still lingering on my floor from yesterday.

Day Three:

The scientific veracity of today’s experiment was foiled by the cats jump-starting the process and ripping open the little baggie of industrial-grade corner-store catnip in my backpack while I was scrubbing up. I wonder whether they aren’t now hooked on the weed. Will observe them for withdrawal symptoms and report later. I thought this stuff was supposed to be safe; my suspicions now tell me that in fact, this may be a lie concocted by the establishment to keep all cats complacent and silence them, preventing them from exposing the truth. (Trust me, if I knew what this truth was, I would tell you. That’s the whole problem.) Today’s stuff proved largely ineffectual, although it could be only in comparison with the potent variety they sampled on Day One. The trip only lasted 10 minutes, and they both ended up all rolled up in the living-room carpet, purring. Now they are making advances on me to give them another hit. But I am through with pushing–I’m thinking of some humane way I can devise a metered-dose system for my poor little drug addicts.

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